Macra to chair regional regulators’ association

Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (Macra) will this month host the Communication Regulators Association of Southern Africa (Crasa) during which the local regulator will take over the chairmanship.

Macra Director of Telecommunication, Lloyd Momba, said at a press briefing in Lilongwe on Wednesday, that the conference will be held from March 16 to 23 at the Bingu International Conference Centre in Lilongwe under the theme ‘Towards Cost-Oriented Pricing for ICT’.

He said the event will tackle several issues ranging from post a l reforms in Sadc, voice and data roaming prices with intent of harmonisation and reviewing Crasa activities.

“The workshop on postal reforms intends to address the postal regulatory reforms through understanding the regulatory framework that supports fair competition and Universal Service Provision, as well as identifying international best practice on postal reform and liberalisation,” Momba said.

The association was formed under the Sadc protocols on transport, communication and metrology to ensure coordination and cooperation among ICT administration for the regional economic needs.

Malawi is currently the vice chair of Crasa and will automatically assume the chairmanship of Crasa for the year 2013 from Angola after the AGM.

“It is also expected that at the end of the AGM, agreements will be reached which will see the implementation of modern technologies deploying the current best practices in service delivery and pricing in the ICT industry,” said Momba who was accompanied by Macra’s Director of Digital Migration Zadziko Mankhambo and Communications Officer, Clara Mulonya.

Crasa is currently being headed by a Malawian, Bridget Linzie, as its acting chief executive officer.